Aida Garifullina

Aida began dating Russian tennis player Marat Safin in 2016, but the couple broke up a year later.

She is currently single but has a daughter named Olivia. Aida has kept the identity of her daughter’s father a secret.

She considers legendary singer Anna Moffo to be her musical inspiration.

Aida Emilevna Garifullina was born on September 30, 1987, to Emil and Layla Ildarovna Garifullina, in Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan.

She was born into a Tatar family. Her father was a landscape architect, and her mother was a choir conductor. Her mother was the one who noticed Aida’s love for singing.

Her mother is currently the director of the ‘Centre of Contemporary Music.’ She was also Aida’s first music teacher, as she groomed Aida into an opera singer.

Her influence made Aida decide to pursue music as her career. Aida gave her first performance at a children’s competition in Moscow at the age of 5.

Aida was only 11 years old when she was enrolled at the ‘Kazan State Conservatoire’ for training in vocals. She was 13 years old when she made an appearance at the ‘Tchaikovsky Great Hall’ in Moscow during the ‘Festival of Gifted Children of Tatarstan.’

Aida began her career in 2009, debuting on stage in a production of Mozart’s ‘Così fan tutte’ by the ‘Conservatoire’ opera students. She played ‘Despina,’ the maid, in the production.

Following her graduation in 2011, she performed a duet with Alessandro Safina in Kazan. She also sang at the closing ceremony of the ‘XXVI Summer Universiadein Shenzhen.’

A year later, she performed at the ‘XXX Summer Olympics’ in London. During her time in London, she met Valery Gergiev, general and artistic director of the ‘Mariinsky Theatre’ in St. Petersburg.

In 2013, Valery offered her the role of ‘Susanna’ in the “opera buffa” of Mozart’s ‘Marriage of Figaro,’ alongside Ildar Abdrazakov. This was her stage debut.

She also played ‘Gilda’ in ‘Rigoletto’ and ‘Adina’ in ‘L'elisir d'amore.’ She had a major breakthrough in 2013, when she won the first prize in Plácido Domingo’s globally famous competition, ‘Operalia.’

She later stated that hers was the last form and was filled by her mother. She was awarded the highest marks for her performance of ‘Encomia in pieta vesta’ from ‘Bellini’s I Capuleti e i Montecchi’ on the first day.

On the second day, she sang Rimsky-Korsakov’s ‘The Snow Maiden.’ which is one of her favorites. Although she fell down the stairs of her hotel due to anxiety, she somehow reached the venue on the final day and was eventually announced the winner.